The Future Is Wild

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Future Is Wild
Format Speculative fiction, Science fiction
Starring See Scientists below
No. of episodes 13
Production
Running time 20 – 25 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Animal Planet/Discovery Channel/BBC/Discovery Kids
Picture format Unknown
Original airing 2003
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

The Future Is Wild was a 2003 joint Animal Planet/ORF (Austria) and ZDF (Germany) co-production, which used computer-generated imagery to show the possible future of life on Earth. The seven-part television series was released with a companion book written by geologist Dougal Dixon, author of several "anthropologies/zoologies of the future" such as After Man: A Zoology of the Future, in conjunction with natural history television producer John Adams.

Based on research and interviews with dozens of scientists, this documentary was put together to show how life could evolve in the future if Homo sapiens became extinct; the Discovery Channel broadcast softened the harsh outlook by stating the human race had completely migrated from the Earth and had sent back probes to examine the progress of life on Earth. The show was played out in the form of a nature documentary. For a time in 2005, a theme park based on this program was opened in Japan.

Contents

[edit] Ecosystems

Twelve ecosystems were chosen at three points in time:-

[edit] 5 million years' time

The world is in an ice age and there are giant seabirds and carnivorous bats. The ice sheets extended to as far south as Paris in the northern hemisphere and as far north as Buenos Aires in the southern hemisphere. The Amazon Rainforests dried up and opened into grasslands. The North American plains shrivelled to become cold desert. Africa collided with Europe and closed off the Mediterranean Sea again. With no water to replace it in the dry climate, the Mediterranean dried out into a giant salt flat dotted with brine lakes, as it has been in the past. Most of Europe became frozen tundra. The part of Africa east of the African Rift Valley has broken off of Africa. Asia has dried up and is now mountainous. The once dry area of Central America has now been transformed into warm dry tropical forests. Australia has moved north and collided with eastern Indonesia.
Denizens
Babookari, a ground-living New World monkey, descended from the present-day uakari.
Carakiller, a giant flightless bird of prey, descended from the present-day caracara.
Cryptile, a frilled lizard that inhabits salt flats and has a sticky frill.
Deathgleaner, a giant carnivorous bat.
Gannetwhale, a seal-like seabird, descended from the present-day gannet.
Gryken, a slender terrestrial mustelid, descended from the present-day pine marten.
Rattleback, an armoured rodent, descended from the present-day agouti.
Desert Rattleback, another type of rattleback, which lives in deserts. Herbivorous, unlike other species
Scrofa, a rock-dwelling wild boar.
Shagrat, a giant rodent which lives in herds and migrates with the seasons in northern Europe,descended from the present-day marmot .
Snowstalker, a giant saber-toothed mustelid, descended from the present-day wolverine.
Spink, a small mole-like burrowing bird, descended from the present-day quail.

[edit] 100 million years' time

The world is very hot, octopi have come onto land, and there are enormous tortoises. Much of the land is flooded by shallow seas. The surrounding land has become brackish swamps. Antarctica has drifted towards the tropics, and once again it is covered with trees, as it was 300 million years before. Australia has collided with North America and Asia, forcing up an enormous, 10-kilometre-high mountain plateau taller than the modern Himalayas. Greenland has been reduced to a small, temperate island. While low lying land is warm shallow seas, cold deep ocean trenches form. Africa's Sahara Desert has once again become Rich Grasslands as it was millions of years ago.
Denizens
Falconfly, a giant predatory wasp.
Grass Tree, a species of plant in the Great Plateau that is harvested by Silver Spiders to feed the Poggles,descended from bamboo.
Great Blue Windrunner, a giant four-winged bird: its legs have flight feathers on and can act as gliding surfaces,descended from the present-day crane.
Lurkfish, a giant big-mouthed electric fish.
Ocean Phantom, a giant jellyfish.
Poggle, the last mammal, descended from the present-day hamster.
Reef Glider, a swimming sea slug.
Roachcutter, a swift jungle bird.
Silver Spider, a large colonial spider.
Spindle trooper, a giant sea spider. They live in Ocean Phantoms, which they defend against enemies.
Spitfire Bird, a species of flutterbird which spits corrosive liquid.
False Spitfire Bird, a species of bird that resembles the Spitfire Bird, but is harmless.
Spitfire Beetle, a cooperative predatory beetle which preys on Spitfire Birds.
Spitfire Tree, a flowering tree that makes two chemicals collected by the Spitfire Birds, which in the process pollinates the tree.
Swampus, a terrestrial octopus.
Toraton, a giant tortoise, grows to 120 tons.
Map of the potential layout of the future world (~200 million years hence)
Map of the potential layout of the future world (~200 million years hence)

[edit] 200 million years' time

The world is recovering from a mass extinction caused by a flood basalt eruption almost as large in size as the one that created the Siberian Traps. Fish have taken to the skies, squid to the forests and the world's largest ever desert is filled with strange worms and insects. All the continents have collided into one another and fused into a single supercontinent, a second Pangaea. Unlike the cephalopods of 100 million years ago, such as the Swampus, which were amphibious, the cephalopods this day, such as the megasquid, no longer have to return to the water to live. At this time, mammals, reptiles, birds, and amphibians are all gone.
Denizens
Bumblebeetle, a flying insect which lives and breeds inside the carcasses of dead Flish.
Deathbottle, a carnivorous plant, residing in the Rainshadow Desert.
Desert Hopper, a hopping snail with a modified single foot.
Forest Flish, a bird-like fish that no longer lives in the oceans, but instead flies like birds.
Ocean Flish, another type of Flish that relies on the ocean more than the Forest Flish.
Garden Worm, an algae-filled worm that feeds only on sunlight.
Megasquid, an elephant-sized omnivorous terrestrial squid. Its 8 arms have evolved into walking legs like an elephant's. It uses its two long tentacles for feeding.
Rainbow squid, a giant chameleonic squid.
Sharkopath, a bioluminescent pack-hunting shark.
Silverswimmer, fish-sized neotenous crustaceans.
Slickribbon, a cave-dwelling predatory worm.
Slithersucker, a giant slime mold.
Squibbon, a terrestrial tree-swinging squid. Relatively intelligent; the likeliest ancestor for future sapient life.
Terabyte, a colonial termite that has become highly specialized.
Gloomworm, a primitive bacteria-eating worm.

[edit] Episode List

Although there are presumably many thousands of different species around at each point in the future, each episode generally focuses on just one food chain.

  1. Welcome to the Future (a brief summary of the coming episodes)
  2. Return of the Ice (5 million years time, in the new frozen wastes of Europe)
  3. The Vanished Sea (5 million years time, in the Mediterranean salt desert)
  4. Prairies of Amazonia (5 million years time, in the grasslands where the Amazon Rainforest once existed)
  5. Cold Kansas Desert (5 million years time, in North America)
  6. Waterland (100 million years time, in the swamps of Bengal)
  7. Flooded World (100 million years time, in the shallow seas)
  8. Tropical Antarctica (100 million years time, in an Antarctica which is now on the equator)
  9. The Great Plateau (100 million years time, at the spot where Asia, North America and Australia have collided)
  10. The Endless Desert (200 million years time, in the vast desert of central Pangaea)
  11. The Global Ocean (200 million years time, in, the ocean of the world)
  12. Graveyard Desert (200 million years time, in a rainshadow desert)
  13. The Tentacled Forest (200 million years time, in the rainforest)

[edit] DVD release

The series was released on three DVDs. The first DVD in the series includes episodes 1-5, the second includes episodes 6-9, and the third includes episodes 10-13. The three DVDs have also been released together as a set.

Both the DVD singles and the 3-DVD set are available for DVD regions one and two. Although the singles are available for region four, the 3-DVD set is not. Magna Pacific, the company contracted to market the Future is Wild series to Australasia, originally planned to release the 3-DVD set in May. When asked in December 2005, the Executive Director of Magna Pacific stated, "We have this scheduled for a May release." However, when asked again in August 2006, the National Marketing Manager of Magna Pacific announced, "Unfortunately the 3-DVD set of Future is Wild has been withdrawn from release, the singles will continue to be available but plans for the release of the 3-DVD set have been placed on hold with no future date set at this stage."

[edit] Scientists

Scientists involved in the project

[edit] Children's Series

Image:Splitsection.svg
 It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled The Future Is Wild (animated series). (Discuss)



An animated children's version of the show was developed by Nelvana Animation, and directed by Mike Fallows, with characters and creatures designed by Brett Jubinville. It airs in Canada on Teletoon and in the US on Discovery Kids. It features four teenagers (CG, Luis, Emily and Ethan) who study the future of the earth to find a new habitat for humanity, while learning about the futuristic creatures who inhabit it. The cartoon is made in CGI animation and is set for 26 episodes. The series first aired on October 13, 2007.

[edit] Characters

C.G.- The Time Flyer's captain. Her original time is 12,000 A.D. She is often cautious and robotic in nature, but as she spends more time with Emily, Luis, and Ethan, she becomes more open and expressive. She is arachnophobic.

Emily- The motherly animal lover of the crew, she trys to see the best qualities in both animals and people. She takes care of Squibbon most and they both adore each other.

Ethan- Ethan is adventurous and daring, he is willing to do most of the more dangerous tasks that the crew's mission provides, taking them as a challenge. Ethan often cracks bad jokes and teases Luis of his overly-cautious attitude. In the episode "Phantom Fear!" it is shown he is claustrophobic.

Luis- Luis is arguably the smartest in the crew and prefers to stay in the ship to avoid the future's hostile environments and dangerous creatures. He often over-reacts and is slightly obsessive over hygiene and germs.

Squibbon- Sometimes called Squibby. He stowed away on the Time Flyer on C.G.'s first mission. As shown in the episode "A Ghost in the Machine " he is much smarter than he looks.

[edit] Episode list

  1. Electric Fisherman: The crew must lure and use two lurkfish, Gill and Butch, to jump start the Time Flyer or be stuck in the Bengal swamp, 100 million years in the future. (10/13/07)
  2. Extreme Bird Watching: Ethan goes alone bird watching in an Antarctic rain forest, and is attacked by falconflies. Meanwhile Max, an overconfident spitfire beetle, is trying to find his friends when they are separated. (10/13/07)
  3. Sky High Anxiety: CG tries to launch a weather station 100 million years in the future, but a great blue windrunner crashes into it and now they must find a way to take care of both her and her chicks. (10/20/07)
  4. Toratonnage: While the crew's time flyer is stuck in mud, Luis stays to try to fix it while the rest of them investigate an unusual heat source. (10/27/07)
  5. Think Big: The crew accidentally knock a Toraton mom on her back and Luis becomes a de-facto parent to a pair of Toraton infants. (11/3/07)
  6. Squibbon See, Squibbon Do: While the crew is in the Bengal swamp 100 million years in the future, the always playful Squibbon runs off with the telecommunicator key which is the only way CG can communicate with her father. Meanwhile, Squibbon is trying to get the key back from a Swampus, or what he calls "Creature that is not a Squibbon". (11/17/07)
  7. A Poggle's Not a Pet...Yet: Emily attempts to do some girl bonding with CG in the Great Plateau 100 million years in the future, but they wind up in a situation where they're really going to be closer than ever. Meanwhile Geb, a poggle, is suspicious about the Silver spiders who look after him and his friends. (12/1/07)
  8. Phantom Fear: Ethan must confront his claustrophobia and C.G. her arachnophobia when the Time Flyer becomes stuck under an ocean phantom and the crew has to deal with the ocean phantom's tentacles and hungry reef gliders. A cautious reef glider named Bobber is reluctant to chow down on the ocean phantom after hearing tales of their various weapons and defenses. (12/15/07)
  9. The Future Is Underground: When blasting forward 200 million years in the future, The time flyer crash lands in a desert wasteland and loses most of it's water. Luis shrinks Emily, C.G. and Ethan so they can search a terabyte mound for water. (1/19/08)
  10. Be True to Your Crew: The team discovers that C.G. is secrctly trying to reactivate her former robot crew members. In this episode, we learn how C.G. met Ethan, Emily, Luis and Squibbon. (2/2/08)
  11. Sign of the Time Flyer: The kids encounter the last primate on Earth: the Babookari. Meanwhile, Dex, a babookari is showing some interest in Emily and the Other "No-Tails". (2/16/08)
  12. De-Tour de France: The kids land on the North European Ice. Meanwhile, a lazy shagrat named Art herds up with Luis and Ethan. (3/1/08)
  13. Night Crawlers: The kids disagree with C.G.'s decision to leave Pangea 2. C.G. feels she is not a capable leader. Meanwhile, Torq, a rock borer terabyte is curious about the big open outside his home. (3/15/08)
  14. Sweet Home Pangea II: CG's dad tells her to Squibbons unaware that they hid one. While visiting the Northern Forest in 200 million AD, the crew finds that Squibby has forgotten his basic survival skills and consider teaching him and then releasing him. (3/29/08)
  15. Shallow Pals: C.G. gives herself, Luis,and Emily food poisoning so Ethan and Squibbon go to investigate an ocean phantom they think is someone's boat. Also, a spindletrooper is unsure of what to defend his ocean phantom from, and so is his leader! (4/5/08)
  16. Parent Trap: C.G. tests a fast growing crop in the Antarctic Forest, 100 million years in the future. Simile, a false spitfire bird must defend her eggs from spitfire birds and (so she thinks) Emily and Ethan! (4/12/08)
  17. Around the World In 80 Minutes: Luis leaves behind geocaches for other time travelers. He doesn't however, know that he made them out of a toxic material! The crew must find one in all the environments of 100 million AD in 80 minutes! (4/19/08)
  18. Monkey Brains: Ethan dares C.G. to use the chameliographic helmet to spend time with the babookari and prove she can be silly and wild. After an accident with some carakillers, C.G.'s brain is inplanted with babookari behavior patterns! Zodek, the carakiller hunt leader is demoted after being afraid of the "lightning monkey" (C.G. with the chameliographic helmet) that zapped him and Subo, the new hunt leader, tries to rekindle his spirit. (4/26/08)
  19. Swimming With Slickribbons: The kids can't leave the Central Desert until they wash the Time Flyer. Also, a tough slickribbon named Philo who wants "a meal with a challenge" gets more than he bargained for when he chases a miniaturized Luis in the flooded Time Flyer (5/10/08)
  20. Scared Safe: After an accident on a glacier 5 million years in the future, C.G. becomes overly protective of the crew. Also, a curious gannetwhale named Tooby investigates the Time Flyer and gets himself, Emily, Ethan, Luis and Squibbon cornered by a snowstalker. (5/17/08)
  21. He Might Be Giant: A tree falls on the Time Flyer and the crew uses the molecular compressor to make Ethan large enough to move it. Then, Ethan (still a giant) befriends a megasquid. (5/24/08)
  22. Ghost in the Machine: The kids test a falconfly repelent. All compounds are usuccessful, except for a mystery mixture found by C.G. Also, things are being lost and the Time Flyer is moving on its own. What's more, the crew are seeing ghostly copies of themselves! Later it is found that Squibbon has learned to control the Time Flyer and chameliographic helmet and mixed the successful falconfly repelent! He also finds an egg in an unknown era that begins to hatch! (5/31/08)
  23. Cure For The Common Megasquid Cold: Luis believes he has a megasquid disease. (6/7/08)
  24. Queen of the Squibbons, Parts 1 and 2: During a trip to the Northern Forest of 200 million years A.D., Emily discovers a baby squibbon who's been orphaned during a Megasquid attack. (6/28/08)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links